


...And After

by eliddell



Category: Utawarerumono | The One Being Sung
Genre: Delayed Happy Ending, F/M, It just bothered me, Post-Canon, Reunions, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:23:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5479751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliddell/pseuds/eliddell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eruruu never forgot.  And if he wasn't coming back on his own, she would go wake him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	...And After

**Author's Note:**

> Just reposting another random 'fic from a few years ago, because I feel like it. Merry Christmas.
> 
> I don't know if this is compatible with "Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen". It's hard to tell for sure when it hasn't finished airing yet.
> 
> ("Utawarerumono" and its characters aren't owned by me, etc.)

I know everyone _says_ that the old woman had a heart attack in the woods when she was out gathering herbs that night, and no one ever found the body, but that wasn't the way it happened. I know, because I saw. 

It did happen at night, though. A clear summer night, one of those ones when the stars seem so close you could touch them . . . I was about twelve years old, I guess, and it wasn't the first time I'd followed Eruruu-sama on her midnight wanderings. I was born with the wheezing sickness, you see, and until Eruruu-sama settled in our village, I spent most of my time in bed, fighting for breath. The medicine she gave me seemed like a minor miracle, and afterwards I followed her around like a puppy for a while . . . Oh, I don't mean I had a crush on her or anything. Devoted worship of a saviour-goddess . . . Something like that. 

By that night, _that_ had long since worn off, but I'd watched her long enough to find out that she left the village every full-moon night, after everyone else was in bed, and I was curious about where she went, that's all, and if she always went to the same place—I think that was the fourth time I'd followed her. 

She followed the same path she had the first three times, thumping along with that no-nonsense stride of hers . . . she was difficult to keep up with, for all her grey hair. Across the bridge in the dark, then left off the road and along a narrow trail through the thin part of the woods until she reached the edge of the plain. She took a few steps out into the grass, then planted her feet wide and her hands on her hips and stood watching the wind ruffle the gold-green surface of the distant hills. 

The first few times I'd followed her, she'd stayed there for a few hours, until the moon swung 'round, then went back to the village, with me scampering ahead. That night was different, though, because that night, something happened. 

There was a flash of light, somewhere out on the plain, and the ground vibrated under my feet. The earth tremor caught me by surprise, and I fell, biting my lip and blinking back tears as I planted one knee squarely on the tip of my tail and ground it into a rock. By the time I was standing again and able to see, _it_ was there. 

Give me a moment, okay? It was . . . some kind of monster. A demon, maybe, I thought at first, taller than a house, horned, with these huge clawed hands and white bony armour. The skin underneath was dark—I don't know exactly what colour. It's difficult to tell, by moonlight. And it was looking straight at Eruruu-sama. 

"Old woman . . ." At first, I couldn't believe that it had spoken, in a deep, harsh voice that sounded not unlike the earth tremor. 

Eruruu-sama snorted quite audibly. "I suppose I shouldn't blame you for not recognizing me—it's been seventy years, and I'm all grey and wrinkled. You never used to oversleep this way, Hakuoro." 

The thing reared back. "That name . . . _Eruruu?_ " 

"Who . . . who else would have been stupid enough to wait this long for you, idiot?" She wiped her face with her sleeve, and only then did I realize she was crying. 

"Eruruu . . ." Somehow, that huge voice managed to sound tender. "You waited . . . for me? But I might never have come back . . ." 

"Oh, I had more faith in you than that . . . and I knew that the seal was constructed so that it would fade once you'd properly reintegrated the two halves of yourself. But never mind that." The old healer's voice was crisp again. "I'm here to make a contract." 

"You . . . _Why?_ " 

I swear, she glared up at that thing as though it had been a misbehaving ten-year-old. "You always were a bit dense about some things. Are you ready to listen?" 

"Yes, ma'am." And the creature sounded just as meek as any child. 

"Well." I could see her chest swell as she took a deep breath. "I understand why you sent me back that time—it hurt, but I understood. Aruru still needed me, and the others . . . I did my best to live my life without regrets. Aruru's a grandmother now, you know, and I'm not just saying that because Mukuru had cubs! There's no one left who needs me that badly anymore." 

"Not even your own grandchildren?" 

Eruruu-sama tilted her head back—I think she might have been rolling her eyes. "Like I said, you always were just a bit dense. I never married. There was only one man whose children I wanted." 

"Eruruu . . ." 

"You promised you'd listen," she reminded the creature. "Of all the people in this world, you have to admit that I know the most about what a contract with you is, and what it means. For the sake of the words we exchanged all those years ago, grant my wish." 

" . . . If you tell me what it is." 

She shook her head. "Dense," she repeated again. "I want what was stolen from me. I want to be by the side of the man that I love, for the rest of his life. In this world, or out of it. Being young enough again that we don't look too odd together would be nice, but not necessary." 

"Eruruu, I . . ." 

And damned if she didn't reach out and rap the thing's ankle with her walking stick. "If you're fishing for an excuse, don't waste your time. Unless you've . . . changed your mind . . ." Her voice faltered, just a little. 

" . . . I'm not quite the same . . . " The creature sounded far more uncertain than she did. 

The old woman smiled. "You're Hakuoro. Together or separate, no matter what form you wear, you are still Hakuoro. That will never change." 

The creature made a sound halfway between a groan and a laugh. "And you haven't changed either, not in any way that matters. All right. If you're sure this is what you want, I will accept the contract." 

Darkness crackled around the creature for a moment, blotting out the moon, and when it was gone, it wasn't a creature and an old healer standing there anymore, but a young man holding a young woman in his arms. The wind ruffled his black hair as he bent his masked face down to kiss her. 

Didn't I mention that? They were both wearing white masks covering the upper part of their faces—odd-looking things, with horns sticking out of the temples. When they stopped kissing, the woman reached up and touched hers. 

"This is . . ." It was lighter than I remembered Eruruu-sama's voice being, but it still held the accent of the mountains that she'd never quite shed. 

"Sorry. I don't know why that happened . . . Maybe because the only way I can keep you with me is to share a bit of my power with you." And his voice was pleasant, deep enough, but nothing that would make the earth shake. An ordinary voice. 

"I'll get used to it. I'd be willing to get used to far more, if it meant that I was finally able to be with you." She wriggled out of his arms and took his hand instead, beginning to tug him forward. "Come on, there are some things I need to pick up at my house. We need to be out of the village by first light . . ." They were almost running, and I scrambled back into the shadow of the trees. As I fled down the path before them, her laughter floated forward to me. "Oh, it feels _so_ good to be young again! No more achy knees! Hakuoro, come on!" 

Well, after all that, I wasn't about to go back to bed. I made it back to the village a bit ahead of them and hid under Eruruu-sama's porch, then watched them approach the little house. 

They hesitated at the bottom of the steps. 

"Aren't you coming inside?" 

The man chuckled. "Eruruu, I've been 'inside' for the past seventy years—grant me a little respite. I'll wait for you out here. It's a pleasant night." 

"Oh, all right, but don't you dare disappear again." I think she cuffed him on the shoulder before climbing up the steps and disappearing inside. I shifted one leg a bit, because it was going to sleep, and looked up to see Hakuoro staring right at me, and smiling. 

"You can come out, you know. I won't bite." He held out a hand. I didn't take it . . . but I did scramble out from under the steps. "You're the one who was watching us from the forest, weren't you?" 

It was a warm night, but I suddenly felt cold. "You knew?" 

"Yes." 

"Then why didn't you . . . ?" 

He had a nice smile, really. Warm. "Chase you away? I thought someone from the village should know that Eruruu left here of her own will, and doesn't intend to come back. The rest . . . it didn't matter if you saw it. There aren't many people who would believe you if you told them about it, anyway, and they all have to be more than eighty years old now. Most of them were older than Eruruu." 

" . . . Do you really grant wishes?" It just kind of fell out of my mouth. 

"Sometimes." Hakuoro folded his arms and leaned back against the wall of the house, his smile fading. 

"Then if I—" 

"No." 

"But you don't even know what I was going to ask for," I said. 

"I know it wouldn't have been important enough for me to even consider sealing a contract with you, especially since you have no idea what it would mean. I wouldn't do it except to save a life . . . and even then, I'd have to think about it very carefully." 

"But Eruruu-sama . . ." I don't even know how I meant to finish the sentence. 

"I owe Eruruu . . . and she knew exactly what she was doing, because that wasn't the first time. She knows what it means to sign herself over to me. For the second time, I own every strand of hair on her head, every drop of blood in her veins . . . every particle of her body and her soul along with it. That's what the contract means." 

All I could find to say was, "Oh." 

To my surprise, Hakuoro clapped me on the shoulder. "Go home, boy. There's nothing for you here, and I don't expect you want Eruruu to find out you were watching us." 

I sprang out from under his hand and ran across the village's central square to the front door of my own house . . . but I stopped again in the doorway and turned around to watch the young Eruruu run down the stairs and fling herself into Hakuoro's arms, nearly knocking him over. And as I watched, I couldn't help but think that, for a woman who'd just signed her entire being over to a monster in the shape of a man, she looked impossibly happy. 

**End . . . and beginning.**


End file.
